| Monte Rucker |
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Rucker Quick Facts:
- Deana Simmons - Three-time All-American/1998 Pac-10TJ Champ
- Keyon Soley - 1999 All-American/Pac-10 LJ Champ
- Mel Moultry - 1998 Pac-10 Triple Jump Champ
- Has coached six women on all-time UCLA LJ/TJ charts
Monte Rucker is entering his sixth season as UCLA's jumps coach.
In 1999, freshman long jumper Keyon Soley earned All-America outdoor honors three times and won the Pac-10 long jump title (20-11I, personal-best, No. 5 in school history). At the NCAA Outdoor, she placed seventh in the long jump and ran on both of UCLA's scoring relays. Junior triple jump standout Deana Simmons, although slowed with a hamstring injury all season, still jumped a personal legal best 43-8I (No. 2 in school history), placed 13th at the NCAA Outdoor and was second in the triple and fifth in the long jumps at the Pac-10. Freshman multi-sport standout Kristee Porter placed third in the triple jump at both the USA Junior (41-5G, No. 7 in school history) and Pac-10 (41-9Iw) meets.
Rucker tutored two Pacific-10 triple jump champions in 1998. Senior Mel Moultry won the men's Pac-10 title and earned All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor (sixth, 52-3Gw). Simmons, then a sophomore, also won the conference triple jump crown and twice earned All-America honors, placing fourth outdoors (43-3I) and sixth indoors (43-7I). She ranked No. 10 in the U. S.
On the all-time UCLA women's long jump chart, Rucker has two current athletes, Soley and junior Michelle Perry (20-0G, No. 10) and on the triple jump list, Rucker has two current athletes — Simmons and Porter.
In 1997, Rucker's top jumper was Simmons, then a true freshman. Collegiately, she earned All-America honors (top eight Americans) by placing ninth in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor. Internationally, Simmons won gold medals at the U.S. and Pan American junior meets, while setting her then-personal best of 43-4 H (No. 11 on the U. S. list in '97). At the USC meet, Simmons had a triple jump mark of 44-1G (no wind instrument). On the men's side, Moultry was third in the triple jump at the '97 Pac-10.
In 1996, two of Rucker's jumpers scored in the triple jump at the Pac-10 meet — Moultry (fourth, 50-4H) and Zoe Shaw (seventh, 37-8), along with Rich Pitchford (second, 7-0H) and Ed Barnett (third, 7-0H) in the high jump. In 1995, under Rucker's tutelage, Danielle Brown advanced to the NCAA outdoor in the triple jump and placed fourth (41-3w) in that event at the Pacific-10.
With coaching experience at both the college and high school levels, Rucker's athletes have achieved national and state status. From 1989-94, he was head women's coach and assistant men's coach at Lynwood HS in Los Angeles. In 1982, he was assistant men's and women's coach at Santa Barbara Community College.
Rucker's prep athletes have been ranked nine times nationally. He has coached five medalists at the California State Championships and three prep top four finishers at the Junior National meet in the women's long and triple jumps.
As an athlete, Rucker was an accomplished sprinter, with a personal-best 10.30 in the 100m.
